An NZ-developed chatbot aims to attract more bookings direct to hotels. Photo / Getty Images
An NZ-developed chatbot aims to attract more bookings direct to hotels. Photo / Getty Images
A Kiwi start-up aims to give power back to hoteliers and other accommodation providers by driving direct bookings instead of via commission-hungry online travel agents.
Book Me Bob is a "virtual concierge" which is customised to the property to provide round-the-clock information and, with artificial intelligence, checks availability and canreserve a room.
It is specific to the property (with a name that can be customised) and is accessed through the accommodation's website rather than through a third party.
Book Me Bob co-founder and chief executive David Thompson said commissions demanded by online travel agents (Otis, like Expedia and Booking.com) were out of control.
The multinational Otis has grown rapidly over the past two decades and the model of owning no rooms and having a fraction of the staff of hotel companies has seen its market value climb much faster than accommodation providers.
Book Me Bob founders Andy Dharmani and David Thompson. Photo / Greg Bowker Visuals
"Yes they're driving business [to accommodation] but they're taking too much of the pie," he said.
"By cutting out the middle man we're giving power back to the hotels. With this tool, the chatbot is converting direct bookings and a 5 per cent commission (to Book Me Bob) which is a lot better than 15 to 35 per cent of Otis."
Thompson has 25 years' experience in the hotel industry and said Otis started off as useful marketing for a realistic fee but the sector had created "a monster''.
In NZ commission rates started off about 10 per cent but they had crept up to 20 per cent or more.
Book Me Bob was in 20 international hotels across four countries — Australia, Indonesia, India and New Zealand.
These include the Hotel Grand Windsor by Mgallery, Porters Hotel, Jet Park Hotels Auckland Airport in New Zealand, The Jambuluwuk Hotel Group, Tijili Hotels, Karma Kandara Resort and Sun Island Hotels Bali in Indonesia, the Jasper Hotel in Melbourne and Hotel Landmark Shimla in India.
Thompson worked with IT expert Andy Dharmani on the concept for much of last year before it went live with the hotels.
Trivago's marketing tactics are under scrutiny in NZ and Australia. Photo / Supplied
In addition to using human-trained AI to help the customer journey and improve the overall experience of hotel users, Book Me Bob promises to improve margins for operators, by offering upselling and cross-selling beyond simply booking.
Although it's in text form at the moment, an audio, foreign-language and emoji-language version of the service was being created.
"The hotel industry has been notoriously slow to adopt to new technologies in the past."
The chatbot freed up staff to focus on other tasks as staff don't have to repeatedly answer the same question on the phone, said Thompson.
They also have direct control of hotel rates and inventory, and no artificially produced rates by Otis. Thompson said hotels were under pressure from local levies such as the bed tax in Auckland and now the coronavirus which had rocked the travel and tourism sector.
A Book Me Bob client, Porters Boutique Hotel in Havelock North, set up the service a month ago.
General manger Kylie Fernandes said it was a "no brainer".
The hotel can feed more information to be loaded into the chatbot to match the pattern of customer inquiries.
She said her hotel still used Otis to grab attention but any direct bookings with the help of Book Me Bob would help its bottom line.
